This week was rather busy with midterms, but nonetheless, I was able to make progress on the construction of the robot. For starters, I was able to cut two out of the three pieces necessary for the construction of the robot frame. Below are some pictures of the railing and motor mount:
Above is the railing for the BallBot runway used to guide the ball towards the back of the iRobot base. Below it is its reference 3D model.
I also was able to start construction on the motor mount. Below is a picture of the assembled motor mount along with its 3D design.
However, construction of the above pieces was very tricky, so I spent the rest of the week redesigning the parts to make assembly easier. The new design features fewer angled cuts and simpler geometry. Below is a rendering of the new BallBot design.
For next week, I plan on continuing construction of the robot. I hope that these new designs will make cutting and assembling the wooden frame much easier. If the frame’s construction goes well, I’ll switch over to cutting the acrylic pieces to make the ramp and robot top plate.